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Neranjan Wijeyeratne
Sri Lankan religious leader and politician From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Neranjan Priyadarshana Dullewe Wijeyeratne (Sinhala: නෙරංජන් ප්රියදර්ශන දූල්ලෑව විජයරත්න) (born 9 August 1956) (known as Neranjan Wijeyeratne) is a Sri Lankan. He served as 18th Diyawadana Nilame (chief lay custodian) of the Sri Dalada Maligawa, Kandy for 20 years from 1985 to 2005.[1] Wijeyeratne was former United National Party politician and ex chief organiser for the Galagedara Electorate in Kandy District and former Leader of the Opposition in the Kandy Municipal Council.
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Early life
Born to Nissanka Wijeyeratne and Nita Dullewe Wijeyeratne, he is the eldest of three brothers and a sister.[2] They are Mano, Anuradha, Lankesh and Nishangani. His father Nissanka Wijeyeratne and grandfather Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne were prominent politicians who had become cabinet ministers and his brothers Mano was a Non-Cabinet Minister of Enterprise Development and Plantation Services and Anuradha is a former provincial councillor and had been the acting Diyawadana Nilame on several occasions. Neranjan Wijeyeratne was educated at Royal College, Colombo.
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Diyawadana Nilame
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Following his father's footsteps, he was elected Diyawadana Nilame (chief lay custodian) of the Sri Dalada Maligawa, Kandy in March 1985 and served for a total of 20 years, until 2005, being re-elected once again in May 1995. Prior to being named the Diyawadana Nilame he served a term of five years as Basnayake Nilame (lay custodian) of Lankathilaka Maha Vishnu devalaya, Kandy.[3] He was noted for his ability when the temple was restored following the LTTE bombing in 1998.[4][5][6][7] He was also responsible for the construction of the famous 'golden fence' around Sri Dalada maligawa. He set up the Dalada Museum, which houses a historic collection of artifacts related to the Temple of the Tooth and Buddhism in Sri Lanka.[8] The 'Temple of the Tooth Special Development Fund and Sri Dalada Maligawa Buddhist Welfare Fund was set up by him.[9] Meanwhile, the Pallekale Sri Lanka International Buddhist Academy (Thai Sri Lanka International Buddhist Institution) with a modern conference hall that can accommodate up to 1000 guests was established by Neranjan Wijeyeratne while he was Diyawadana Nilame.[10] During his tenure, he maintained close links with Japanese, Chinese, Thai and Myanmar religious dignitaries and played a major role in promoting Sri Lanka's Buddhist heritage.[11][12]
Meeduma Walauwa, Rambukkana
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Politics
After stepping down as Diyawadana Nilame following his second term, he went into active politics.[13]
Family
He is married to Devika Mediwake, daughter of Dr Laxminath and Chintha Mediwake, and granddaughter of William Gopallawa (first president of Sri Lanka) and has two children, a daughter Mokshana Nerandika Wijeyeratne (Senior environmental specialist) The World Bank, Headquarters at Washington, D.C. United States of America.[14] and a son, Navindra Wijeyeratne (BS, MS and PhD) from University of Central Florida, Florida, United States of America, who is an assistant professor at Florida Polytechnic University, Florida, US.[15]
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References
External links
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